Dart board



April 6, 1937.

T. w. TEMPEs'r DART BOARD.

Filed Dec. 12, 1936 Patented lApr. i 6, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

My invention relates to a new and useful dart board of the type generally used in amusement places and recreation rooms for competitive skill in throwing darts or little arrows against a suitably marked board, the hits and misses of the dartl thrower constituting a score or total of points.

It is essential in dart boards of this character that they be made of a material which can be penetrated by a dart thrown with only a modest amount oi' momentum; that such dart boards be comparatively light for easy suspension at any desired point; that such dart boards be made of a relatively durable material and be so constructed that they will not warp, twist, split, or be 4otherwise damaged by temperature or other climatic conditions; that such boards be provided on their effective area withrelatively permanent markings clearly dividing one portion thereto from another and preventing the landing of the dart thrown at the board on the dividing line which would preclude proper scoring; that such dart boardsshould have a replaceable .center piece which can be easily renewed when excessively worn out or damaged by the darts thrown thereonto without the necessity of discarding the entire board; that effective, inexpensive and easily operated means shall be provided for detachably securing such center piece in position relative to the main body portion of the dart board.

'It is therefore the object of my invention to u produce a dart board which will possess all of the foregoing advantages, -and such a dart boa'rd is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a front elevation of the dart board held in a vertical position.

Fig. 2'is a section on line 2 2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a section similar to Fig. 2 with the detachable center piece removed. l

Fig. 4 represents, on an enlarged scale, a section on line I--I of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 represents a. fragmentary view in perspective showing the manner of fastening the markers onto the center piece.

Fig. 6 is a view, partly in section Aand partly in elevation, of one of the-darts used in connection with the dart board. l

Referring to the drawing in which like reference characters indicate like parts, I designates 50 the permanent or body portion of the dart board which may be suspended from the hooks 2 to any desired support. In order to prevent warping, twisting, or similar damage, to the board, which I have found'to'be the case with boards formed of a single section or thickness, I form my novel board out oi' laminatedJ blocks or sections 3 joined as at I and suitably staggered in their assembly with the grain oi' the separate blocks at angles to each other which structure, as is well known.lis stronger and more form-retaining than would l5 be the case -of a board formed from a single piece.

'Ihe body portion I'i's provided with armore'o'r less circular opening-6 in which is iitted a circular detachable target piece consisting of the central bulls eye 8 whichis preferably dierently coll ored from the adjoining portions, and which is delimited by the metallic ferrule I8 embedded in the board. I2 designates metallic partitions inl the nature of flat, elongated blades of the proper y height or width which are driven' into the face 15 oi' the target section in any desired manner such i as that shown in Fig. 1 to provide the segments I4. The segments I4 are colored with any suitable tint diering from the central bulls eye 8. The blades or dividers I2 are driven into the face of the target until they are almost but not quite' ush with the lsurface of the target, or so that their outer edges extend but slightly above the surface of the target as shown at I6 in Fig. 2. It will be apparent that the metallic dividers I2 are permanent in their nature and cannotbe well obliterated by the impact of darts thereon, and that they serve to deflect a dart which might accidentally hit one of said dividers onto one or the other oi the adjoining segments, thereby elimi-` 30 nating the possibility of the darts straddling the lines. In order to form the additional conventional score devices I use the circular metallic strips I8, 20 and 22, the outermost one I8 of which abuts against the outer edges of the dividers I2l 3,- as shown at 24 inFig. 5, while the circular parti-y tions 2|I and 22 engage notches in the corresponding portions of the dividers I2, as shown at 28 and 28 also in Fig. 5. The intersection of thecircular strips 28 and 22 with the dividers I2 form 40 the areas 30 which are again colored in contrast with the rest of the board, and the abutment of the .outermost circular strip I8 with the outer edges of the dividers I2 form the areas 32 which are also contrastingly colored. 0n the body portion I of the board I provide the numerals or other indicia 38 which determine the score of the player in the wellknown manner in the game of dart boards, which need not be set forth in detail.

In order detachably but nevertheless rmly to retain -the circular target piece in the circular opening 6, I provide the ilat springsl 38 which are positioned in the grooves 40 formed at spaced v intervals in the inner wall of the circular openingl,saidsprinss being adaptedtoengage g,

a. corresponding annular groove 42 positioned in the periphery of the circular target piece. In

order to put the circular target piece in position, or to detach it from the body portion I, it is 5 merely necessary to insert the point of the dart,

shown in Fig. 6, or the blade of a knife or any other available instrument, between the periphery of the target piece and the inner wall of the circular opening 6 to disengage the fiat springs l0 38 from the groove 42, y A

It is further well known in the game of dart boards that Acertain segments, such as segments A, B or C, result in the highest score and hence the players concentrate on throwing their darts on said segments with the result that these segments wore out well in advance of the rest of the board. It therefore becomes essential in order to achieve the greatest economy to render the center piece freely rotatable but nevertheless position retaining so that a fresh segment, which hasnot been played so much, may be brought around to register with the high score position of the board. In dart board devices in which the center target section is secured to the body portion by means of screws, latches or other fastening devices, it is impossible to turn the circular target section to expose a fresh segment to play until such fastening devices have been disconnected. It is therefore an important feature of my invention that the circular target piece is retained by the flat springs 38, which not only serve against displacement but also retain the target piece in any desired radial position,

while, at the same time, permitting the free rotation of the circular piece from one position to another at will.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a dart to be used in congages and covers the end of the dart into which the pin 48 is driven. l

If desired, instead of notching the dividers or markers I2 and forming continuous circular dividers 20 and 22 which engage notches in the 50 dividers I2, as at 26 and 28, I may eliminate the notches from the dividers I2 and form the circular dividers 20 and 22 of arcuate segments which are long enough to t in between any pair of adjacent dividers I2 at the desiredv radial point. Inthis form of construction, which it is not believed necessary-to illustrate in formalfdetailed drawings due to its simplicity, the radial Adividers I2 are 4made of a desired length but without any notchings in their edges, and after they have been driven into the board at the pre--l determined places, circumferential segments to replace the circular members 20 and 22 are then driven at the indicated places in separate pieces to fit more or less accurately between the radial dividers I2` Wiile in the drawing I have shown only one side of my dart board, it is to be understood that the reverse side of the dart board could be identif cal with that shown in Fig. l so that the dart board may be reversible to double its utility, and

, it is further within the scope of my invention to form the other side of the dart board into a football fleld, a baseball diamond, or otherwise divide or mark it so as to constitute an entirely separate and different game without changing the manner of securing the cut-out target piece into the opening, and without changing the structure of the dividers 20, 22, I8 and I2 or the laminated block structure of the board beyond the limits hereinabove outlined.

As will be seen from the drawing and particularly Figs. 2 and 4, the blades I8, 20 and 22 are driven into the target until their upper edges are substantially iiush with the upper surface of the target.

Hhving thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A dart board for a game of darts comprising a body portion having a circular opening therein, a circular target piece adapted to fit within said opening, and means associated with the wall of said opening adapted to engage means on the periphery of said target piece for interlocking said target piece and said body portion.

, 2. A dart board for a game of darts comprising a body portion having an opening therein, a target piece adapted to t within said opening, and means associated with the wall of said opening adapted to engage means on the periphery of said target piece interlocking said target piece and said body portion.

3. A dart board for a game of darts comprising a body' portion having a circular opening therein, a circular target piece adapted to fit within said opening, and means associated with the wall of said opening adapted to engage means on the periphery of said target piece for detachably and revolubly interlocking said target piece in position.

4. A dart board comprising a body section having a circular opening therein, yielding devices positioned in the wall of said opening and normally projecting beyond the plane thereof, and a circular target piece adapted to fit within said opening, said target piece having a peripheral groove adapted to be engaged by said yielding devices whereby said target piece is revolubly and detachably interlocked to said body section.

5. A dart board for a. game of darts comprising a body portion having an opening therein, a target piece adapted to fit within said opening, and means associated with` the wall of said opening adapted to engage means on the periphery of said target piece for rotatably interlocking said target piece and said body portion.

6. A dart board comprising a 'body portion having an opening therein, a target adapted to fit in said opening, and means associated with the wall of said opening and the periphery of said target for interlocking said target with said body portion, said target having radially disposed blades embedded therein and substantially l iiush with the surface thereof and concentrically disposed arcuate blades intersecting said radial @blades and also embedded in said target piece substantially flush with the surface thereof.

THOMAS WILSON TEMPEs'r. 

